By Garmah Never Lomo, garmahlomo@gmail.com
The Monrovia City Court at the Temple of Justice has issued an Arrest Warrant for two agents of the Niko Ivanka vessel
It is not known yet whether they are now under the court’s jurisdiction, but the arrest warrant was issued earlier this week.
On July 17, 2021, Niko Ivanka sank along the Marshall coast while en route to Harper, Maryland County with some twenty-six passengers on board.
The boat, which Liberia’s Maritime Authority (LMA) boss Eugene Nagbe said was officially grounded without license and not a passenger vessel, was carrying both passengers cargo when it sank.
It is still not known exactly which one of the authorities at the National Port Authority and the Maritime Authority gave the final green light for the troubled boat to leave the Freeport of Monrovia pier with passengers and cargo.
Twelve persons were said to have been rescued, including staff of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), which lost six of their personnel. A number of others on board the sunken vessel are yet to be recovered.
The court’s arrest warrant says the living bodies of George Mccay, Alex and others to be identified defendants must be brought before the Monrovia City Magisterial Court “to answer to the charge of Negligence homicide based upon the oath and complaint of the Republic of Liberia by and thru the Ministry of Justice, plaintiff in which it is substantially alleged as follow:”
According to the court’s warrant, the alleged act of the Defendants was “unlawful, wicked, illegal and intentional is in violation of the law cited above there and then the crime herein the defendants did do and commit”.
The warrant adds:
That during the period of July 17,2021, at sea in the Republic of Liberia, the within named Co-defendants George Mccay being Acting agent of MV Niko Ivanka, a vessel whose license expired since 2020 and other crew members knowing fully well that the said vessel was meant for Cargo and not human being, purposely and intentionally there and then placed passengers on board the vessel taking from Monrovia to Harper, Maryland County and that while, in route, the said vessel developed problem and sung thereby negligently causing the death of fourteen Liberian citizens contrary to section 14.3 of the New penal law of Liberia.